EA Sports announced that, for the first time in EA Sports NHL history, there is a 99 Club.
Their first member will be none other than Connor McDavid, which makes sense since he is arguably the best player in the NHL and the world right now. What was interesting was the wording of the press release because many players have had a 99 overall rating in the past, like Ray Bourque, who was rated 99 in NHL 94.
It’s how EA said it, calling it the 99 Club, but it was still boasting that it was their first 99 overall player; there is an asterisk because it all has to do with it being their first 99 overall in the modern era and with their new 99 Club. This isn’t the first new release for NHL 27 to miss the mark marketing-wise, as the previously announced new mode, Connected Franchise, drew a ton of backlash from the community.
The 99 Club announcement for NHL 27 was also met with a community note on Twitter because people felt confused by the messaging.
The 99 Club for NHL 27 is essentially a way for NHL to move forward and have an elite club of players who achieve this rating, but call it the 99 Club. Only Connor McDavid received a 99 overall rating for NHL 27.
Other high ratings are below:
I wish the messaging had been better because I’m truly excited for some of the updates I mentioned in a previous article on NHL 27, like the updated arena goal songs, but they still seem to keep messing up the messaging. I feel that if the community wasn’t so disappointed with what looks like an unfinished mode in Connected Franchise, we wouldn’t see this much backlash, but that remains to be seen.
The team over at EA Sports has released a roadmap, so before the month is up, we should see a gameplay deep dive, and I hope they stick the landing on the messaging for this one.
